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INSIGHT ON
ECONOMIC
By S ean P. Johns on
DEVELOPMENT
A powerful surge
New opportunities and renewed optimism propel Manitowoc County
C O U R T E S Y O F WA E C
Wisconsin AG Center – An artist’s
rendering of the Wisconsin Agriculture
Education Center proposed along
Interstate 43 in Manitowoc County. The
$10 million to $12 million center has
been projected to attract up to 500,000
visitors a year.
T
here is a definite thaw in
Manitowoc County and it
has nothing to do with ice
on the lake.
This latest trend has very little to
do with the unpredictable Wisconsin
weather. No, this warming applies to
the regional economy, which is seeing
several years’ worth of initiatives finally
coming to fruition as new projects take
off and old scars begin to fade.
With unemployment falling to 5.3
percent for the county at the end of
2014 — nearly back to the prerecession
levels of 2008 — a barely contained
optimism is about to burst.
“I think the general consensus
is we are heading toward a bit of a
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2 015 renaissance on the lakeshore,” says
Peter Wills, interim executive director
for Progress Lakeshore. “We’ve had
several projects culminate in success
this past year. It just seems like we are
really peaking.”
That sense of optimism is helped by
the removal of significant symbols of
past economic challenges.
Old Mirro complex
rejuvenated
In the last year, Niagara Worldwide
began the process of salvaging and
dismantling the 900,000-square-foot
Mirro complex in downtown. An
emerging market for historical products
and repurposed wood — particularly
the millions of board feet of old growth
hemlock and maple in the plant — has
helped renew that project.
As that central complex has begun
the healing process, plans for other
buildings left behind when Mirro
closed its doors are also moving
closer to fruition. With housing
and historic preservation tax credits
falling into place, developers should
soon be moving forward with plans
to convert the former Mirro Plant No.
3 into a residential housing complex,
says Nicolas Sparacio, community
development director for the city of
Manitowoc.
It’s another visible sign the city
is moving ahead and shedding the
economic negatives from its past, he
says.
“I think it’s been hard for the
community to see these buildings for
so long when nothing was happening,”
Sparacio says. “This is a positive,
adaptive reuse of the building and the
community will no longer have the
scar of that building sitting vacant and
unused.”
So far, Wisconsin development
firm Impact Seven has received
both affordable housing and historic
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preservations tax credits, as well as
assistance from the city of Manitowoc.
The company has closed on the
property and is currently working
to firm up its part of the financing.
Sparacio is confident in the project’s
viability.
“I think we are at a turning point,”
he says. “We definitely want to see
more of these type of partnerships. It’s
a huge opportunity for the city.”
Sparacio’s positive vibe is spreading
across the county. Just up the road in
Two Rivers, demolition continues on
the former Thermo Fischer Scientific
facility and that city’s plans to open up
nearly 16 acres of riverfront property
to new development.
It’s probably been more than 100
years since there has been that much
available property on the riverfront.
The latest vexing challenge from the
site is the demolition of a 200-foot
smokestack that has a historical appeal,
but does not necessarily fit into the
redevelopment plans. Demolition is
on hold while environmental tests are
being conducted.
While the smokestack is symbolic
to the city’s manufacturing past, the
cost to taxpayers of maintaining
the structure and the challenges of
marketing the property with the giant
relic make it impractical to save it,
says Two Rivers City Manager Greg
Buckley.
The waterfront has become an
important part of development all
across Manitowoc County. In addition
to clearing the Thermo Fischer
Manitowoc Crane – A Manitowoc Crane works on the $3.9 billion New NY Bridge
across the Hudson River north of New York City, one of the largest infrastructure
projects in North America. Manitowoc Co. recently announced plans to split its crane
and foodservice divisions into two separate companies.
Scientific site along the river, the Two
Rivers community recently launched a
campaign to construct a new pavilion
at Neshotah Park, host of Kites Over
Lake Michigan, one of the largest kite
festivals in the Midwest.
Construction is expected to be
finished by late summer,
[continued ] »
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INSIGHT | 37
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
just in time for the 10th anniversary
Kites Over Lake Michigan festival
and will host other community
events as well.
The good vibes are a product of
several recent successes in the county,
including:
» Ironwood Plastics, which
announced a $19 million expansion in
Two Rivers
» Lakeshore Industrial, a
manufacturer of custom cages for
safely lifting personnel and materials,
will soon be constructing a new,
11,000-square-foot building in Two
Rivers’ Woodland Industrial Park.
» Jagemann Plating, which expects
this spring to complete a $4.5 million,
36,000-square-foot expansion that will
bring new equipment and technology
to its operations in Manitowoc.
» The proposed Wisconsin
Agriculture Center, a $10 million to
$12 million project that will create both
an educational and tourist destination
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2 015 showcasing a working dairy farm.
“It seems things are getting better
each year,” Wills says.
There is, or course, a specter posing
a potential challenge to the recent run
of good economic news.
Manitowoc Co. to split ice,
crane divisions
Manitowoc Co. announced earlier
this year it was splitting its crane
and foodservice divisions into two
independent companies — a move
expected to be complete by the first
quarter of 2016. As it stands today,
each division would be its own multibillion dollar company.
The move is expected to benefit
each company by giving it greater
flexibility to pursue individual market
strategies and attract additional
investors, Glen Tellock, chairman and
chief executive officer stated in press
releases related to the spinoff.
“Manitowoc has taken and
continues to take actions to enhance
returns, including margin expansion
initiatives, re-investment in our
businesses, and utilization of our
free cash flow to de-lever our balance
sheet,” Tellock says. “We believe the
separation of Cranes and Foodservice
will position these businesses to
take advantage of anticipated longterm improvement in demand and
other opportunities in their
respective markets.”
The company has declined to
elaborate beyond its recent press
releases because of ongoing legal and
financial proceedings related to the
separation.
Wills says there is always concern
when a large regional employer
embarks on a major restructuring,
and says that while worries about the
company scaling back or relocating
operations for either or both divisions
are real, there are still many unknowns.
“We hear all those concerns, but so
far there is nothing to react to,” says
Sparacio. “We continue to reach and let
them know we can offer any assistance
if needed.”
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Good vibes
Manitowoc County’s recent economic
development successes are showing
up in the positive attitudes many of
its corporate leaders have about the
regional business climate.
In a recent Manitowoc County
Business survey, more than 51 percent
of those responding rated the region’s
business climate as good or excellent.
Another 23 percent gave the area a fair
rating, bringing the total for positive
responses to 74 percent.
“We are looking forward to seeing
those numbers go up even more as we
make additional progress,” says Wills.
The same survey found that 85
percent of those companies planned
to either maintain their current
workforce or bring on additional
employees this year.
New face
Sparacio, who is working on the Mirro
project (among others) is a new face
on the economic development scene
in Manitowoc, though he’s a familiar
player in the greater New North region.
He joined the city of Manitowoc in
his role as community development
director in late 2014 after spending
nearly six years as a planner for the
city of Green Bay. A practitioner of
placemaking to help drive economic
development, Sparacio helped develop
the master plan for downtown Green
Bay that set the stage for its recent
resurgence, including new corporate
headquarters for Associated Bank and
Schreiber Foods.
He was also a key player in the
mixed-use redevelopment of the
Larsen Cannery property by Titletown
Brewing Co. that includes additional
brewing capacity, a tap room, a public
market and office space.
“I’m really hoping to bring that
sort of vibe to Manitowoc,” Sparacio
says. “There really are some great
opportunities here.”
Previous to his experience in Green
Bay, Sparacio worked with planning
departments in Lincoln and Rusk
counties.
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